CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – My first two winter heating bills this year have been higher. $60 more in December and $50 more in January. I’m told that my next heating bill might be less, because the middle part of the winter has been relatively mild and because February has 3-fewer days. We shall see.
MSNBC did a fascinating report on heating bills in California. Most of our natural gas distribution flows from west to east, so California’s costs are always higher. This year they are dealing with tight supplies and some pipeline capacity problems that are specific to their state. Prices have gone through the roof.
The report interviewed one man whose gas bill was usually $300 a month. This year it’s $900. And he says he keeps his house at 65 degrees, wears a sweater indoors, and sleeps with extra blankets. Another homeowner said he uses natural gas to heat his backyard swimming pool. The bill went up so much that in the middle of the month that the gas company thought he had a leak. His bill: $2,500.
The irony of all this is that California is an anti-gas state. They have the strictest rules for shutting down pipelines and making it impossible to build new ones. They are leading the charge to ban gas stoves, although somehow your gas-powered drier and furnace are okay for now. They’d like everyone to switch over to eclectic heat, which is more expensive, in a state that regularly asks its residents to curtail electricity usage in the summer because too many people are running their air conditioners.
And there is one little nugget that was left out of the MSNBC story. The people they interviewed were from Long Beach, Arcadia, Oceanside and Malibu. Their heating bills are sky-high… and they don’t get any snow.
Chris Conley
Comments